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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tummy Time

I am so sick of people who say all babies want to be swaddled and that if they don't then you're doing it wrong. NOT TRUE. I know this because after two weeks of my baby being swaddled she suddenly didn't want to be any longer. When Nia was swaddled during her first two weeks of life, we were able to put her on her back to sleep. Once swaddling no longer worked and we put her on her back she promptly woke herself up from flailing her arms (the Moro reflex).

So we decided to let her sleep on her tummy and guess what? It worked.

It's now come out that the Back to Sleep campaign that changed the pediatricians recommendation from tummy (as it was when I was a baby) to back (as it is now) is causing developmental delays in babies. This is scary stuff. Here's an excerpt from a recent article on the topic:

Not only are parents not putting babies on their stomachs when it is time to sleep, they are also not putting them on their stomachs at all (or, more precisely, not nearly enough). . . The studies Mossop cites suggest that the less time a baby spends on her stomach, the later the age at which she begins to stand on her own, and that, in turn, is linked to everything from lower I.Q. scores, to performance in phys-ed class, to adult cardiovascular fitness.

With no other risk factors for SIDS we decided it was fine to let Nia sleep on her tummy and she's just fine. We all get to sleep for long periods of time. As a bonus, she was able to lift her head at only 2 months old and is already rolling occasionally from back to tummy. She's also able to arm crawl to get from one place to another. She's one strong girl! And it may be vain, but the best part? She doesn't suffer from flat head syndrome. As one of the commenters wrote:

Another consequence that an increasing number of parents are discovering (including myself): the need for cranial orthotics to correct a "flat spot" on the baby's head. My pediatrician told me that needing one of these pricy helmets (which are often not covered by insurance) is becoming more and more the norm due to the back to sleep initiative.

Now I do have to say when I put Nia in bed with me to feed her while side-lying, she does fall asleep on her back so she does get time on both her back and tummy. She feels comforted on her back having someone nearby, but the moment I try to move she stirs! Oh well, we'll stick to tummy time in her bed and back time in my bed with me.